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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233699">Please Come Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir'>amethyst-noir (Arbonne)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rest Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Exhaustion, Homecoming, IronStrange Bingo 2020, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, Tony Stark Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:54:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,198</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233699</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony waits for Stephen to come home; exhausting himself in the process.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rest Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>IronStrange Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Please Come Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The second of the <a href="https://amethyst-noir.tumblr.com/post/612982753766555648/rest-prompts">rest prompts</a>. @shesprobablyreading requested a combination of two prompts, making me a very happy writer in the process. It's been ages since the words flowed like they did here.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><b>moonlight.</b> trying to stay up until a loved one comes back home.<br/><b>armor.</b> falling in and out of a restless sleep. feeling safe when a loved one presses a kiss to their forehead and strokes their hair.</p>
</blockquote><p>This got longer than I anticipated and since it broke the self-imposed, magical 1k threshold it's the fill for the "Fluff" square on my Ironstrange Bingo, Round 2 card.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony used to love nighttime. Less interruptions, less annoying sunlight and generally a feeling that the world was asleep and he had all the time to invent, to create and to tinker.</p>
<p>These days he only loved nights he could spend with Stephen. Stephen, who was a night-owl like him, whose mere presence in the same room managed to calm Tony down while driving his creativity to new heights.</p>
<p>
  <em>Simulation failed.</em>
</p>
<p>He yawned and cleared the display in front of him without looking at the error log. "Try it again," he told FRIDAY while reaching out to the smoothie DUMM-E had brought him eons ago. He took a sip, grimaced at the overwarm concoction of <em>something</em> and pushed the glass away again.</p>
<p>His eyes burned, his vision was blurry and his thoughts were slower than the ones of General Ross.</p>
<p>"Might I suggest that you go to bed, boss?" FRIDAY interrupted the mental listing of his failings.</p>
<p>He should listen to her, he knew. After almost three days he was at the end of the endurance. His arm was killing him, on top of everything else that was wrong with his old and abused body. But…</p>
<p>"I can't," he whispered to the still clear holographic display in front of him. "Stephen's not home yet and I promised…" He closed his eyes when the light suddenly became too bright. "Lights off," he ordered. "No," he corrected after moment. "Just make it…"</p>
<p>"Less bright than the already 10% of normal output we already have? Got it, boss."</p>
<p>God, had she always been this bitchy or was that Stephen's influence in his young and impressionable AI? "I'm not sure if I like your tone, young lady."</p>
<p>"That's just the exhaustion speaking, boss. Normally, you like me like this."</p>
<p><em>That</em> brought a smile to Tony's face. "Yeah, I do."</p>
<p>"If you won't go to sleep how about a short break on the couch behind you? I promise I'll inform you the moment Stephen comes back."</p>
<p>"If I lie down now I'll never stand up again." He was still conscious enough to know that. He rubbed his right shoulder. Each and every scar down his arm seemed to be on fire and he could barely move it anymore. <em>Be thankful that you still have it</em>, he told himself for the millionth time. He moved his fingers, thankful when that brought no further wave of pain. He could deal with a fucked-up shoulder and arm as long as his hand was still as good as before. He'd been much luckier than Stephen in that regard. He closed his eyes just for a moment, and tried to swallow down the disappointment over the once again failed simulation. It wasn't for <em>him</em>, although it could help him, too, this was for Stephen. The idea of failing his lover over and over again didn't sit well with him.</p>
<p>"I promise to alert you the moment he comes home."</p>
<p>Home.</p>
<p>"Stephen." He whispered the name without thinking about it while standing up. "Please come home." He had to hold himself steady on the edge of the desk with his left hand before he could take a deep breath to gather the strength to stumble to the couch behind him.</p>
<p>Three days. Three days when it had been supposed to be one, two at the latest. He wasn't worried - not really, Stephen had told him where he was going and that there was no danger - but he missed the man more than he'd thought himself capable of.</p>
<p><em>No lying down</em>, he promised himself. He would just sit down for a moment or two, to gather his thoughts. Then he would get some coffee - not that it would do him any good - and continue his vigil.</p>
<p><em>I just have to…</em> Numbers and schematics were dancing right in front of him but his mind couldn't grasp and comprehend them. He reached out over and over again but they always floated away just when he was about to grab them. That, coupled with a vague sense of unease and loneliness, made him drift uneasily but he couldn't bring himself to wake up, no matter how hard he tried.</p>
<p>He jolted out of the twilight sleep he'd been caught in when something grabbed back and took hold of his right hand. A very loose grasp; shaky fingers that barely managed to fold enough to hold on to him.</p>
<p>"Stephen," he tried to say but failed.</p>
<p>"Shh."</p>
<p>Oh, how he'd missed that deep and beloved voice. He forced his eyes open and after some blinking he almost had Stephen's face in focus. "Hey," he managed to get out. "Missed you. Welcome home."</p>
<p>"Not quite the welcome party I've imagined, I must confess." Stephen sounded completely exhausted but still more coherent than Tony. Dry lips against his as Stephen leaned in for a short kiss. "What happened?"</p>
<p>"You've been gone for significantly longer than a day but boss refused to break his promise." FRIDAY, the traitor, sold him out as if he wasn't the one who had brought her into this world.</p>
<p>"Oh," was Stephen's eloquent response. "I'm sorry. I didn't…"</p>
<p>"Shh," Tony echoed. "It's okay. I just wanted to be here for you when you came back. A friendly face, a nice kiss, maybe a hug…"</p>
<p>"If you were thinking reunion sex I suggest we postpone that until later." The last few words almost drowned in Stephen's yawn.</p>
<p>Tony smiled. His vision might be blurry but Stephen still looked beautiful and adorable in equal measure. Must be the magic that made it possible. "Deal. FRIDAY? Bed, please?"</p>
<p>"With pleasure. Sleep well."</p>
<p>The nanites of the couch rearranged themselves into the big and comfortable bed the two of them had already spent so many nights in.</p>
<p>Tony let himself fall into the feeling of shifting technology and smiled when Stephen put one of the throw pillows under his head before kissing him once again. First on the lips, then, surprisingly, on the forehead.</p>
<p>"Thank you," Stephen said simply and brushed through Tony's hair with careful fingers.</p>
<p>Tony had left the gel out of it deliberately those last few days because he'd hoped for exactly that caress and wanted to make it easier for Stephen's stiff and weakened fingers. He turned his head into the light touch.</p>
<p>"What for?" he asked, already drifting off again, finally able to do that in peace with the knowledge that Stephen was safe at home where he belonged.</p>
<p>"For waiting, even though it was an idiotic thing to do. You can't imagine how much it means to me."</p>
<p><em>Everything for you, my love</em>, Tony promised, unable to form the words but desperately hoping that Stephen might hear them anyway.</p>
<p>The last thing he felt was Stephen's cuddling up to him, head on Tony's left shoulder as usual, left hand on Tony's right shoulder to warm and protect it, and the Cloak settling over them to become their blanket.</p>
<p>A deep and very sleepy "love you, too" was the last thing he heard.</p>
<p>This time he dreamt of butterflies in shades of red and blue, building the equations he needed to get his newest project to work, and Stephen's brilliant smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading. 🤍 I hope you enjoyed the slight detour from my usual dynamic between them. I just read the prompts and saw an exhausted Tony brooding and waiting for his beloved to come home. It's wonderful how easily the two can switch between roles - it's one of the things that I love so much about the pairing.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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